Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, Australia

At the northern tip of Northern Territory, Australia, the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park spans the entire Cobourg Peninsula. Nearly the whole peninsula is Aboriginal land, and the park is managed as a sanctuary under the direction of traditional Aboriginal landowners. The first wetlands to be declared "Wetlands of International Importance" by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands International Treaty are located in this park. The image was acquired April 12, 2016, covers an area of 48.2 by 58.6 km, and is located at 11.3 degrees south, 132.2 degrees east.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of about 50 to 300 feet (15 to 90 meters), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.